Tom O' Brien, author and playwright

THE HEMINGWAY CURSE

When Ernest Hemingway blew his brains out with his shotgun in his kitchen on the morning of July 2nd 1961, he wasn’t the first in the Hemingway family, nor would he be the last.
His father, Dr Clarence Hemingway, took the same way out in 1928, though he used a revolver and not a shotgun.
His sister, Ursula, who was suffering from cancer, took a drug overdose and died on 30th Oct 1966
Leicester Hemingway, Ernest’s younger brother shot himself with a .22 pistol in September 1982
Actress/model Margot Hemingway, Ernest’s grand-daughter, died of a drug overdose on 1st July 1996

Gregory Hemingway – sometimes known as Gloria Hemingway – and Ernest’s third son, died under mysterious circumstances whilst in police custody on 1st Oct 2001.
Gregory said of his father’s death; ‘I am glad my father is dead because now I can’t disappoint him any more’. Gregory, who was a practising doctor struggled with the cross of his father’s fame all his life. He also had problems with his own sexuality; he was a transsexual, sometimes living as Gloria Hemingway. Despite this, he married 4 times, including his father’s assistant, Valerie Danby-Smith. They had three children together before they finally split up in 1989.